Since the bridging division started trading, John Hardman, managing director at Fluent Money (pictured above), has grown the business from one desk and one member of staff with a team entering double digits.

The company revealed it is on track to deliver a seven-figure revenue within its first year of trading.

And as it enters 2022, the business is looking for a further 25% growth before it reaches its first anniversary. 

“The growth of Fluent Bridging since its launch earlier in the year has been a real success story,” said John.

“While market conditions have seen a requirement for bridging loans, we’ve benefited from being able launch the business using the tried and tested Fluent journey for both advice, product choice and customer service.

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“We’ve developed deep personal relationships with our panel of lenders, and this approach puts us in a strong position both in terms of access to range of products, lender exclusives and decision makers, meaning we can cover every scenario and offer a market-leading service.” 

Observing the bridging market over the last year, the business has witnessed a sector split in two, with the first half of 2021 weighted to property ‘chain-breakers’ requiring short-term funding to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday. 

In the latter part of the year, it noted that the sector returned to a more traditional marketplace, with smaller loan sizes and more auction purchases.

The business attributes its early success to the wider Fluent business model, taking the group’s use of technology and customer experience-based approach.

The bridging brand complements existing divisions of the Fluent group: Fluent Money (second-charge mortgages), Fluent Mortgages, Fluent Lifetime (equity release), and Fluent Protect (insurance).